Stefano Massini (born 22 September 1975) is an Italian writer, essayist and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

Biography

Massini was born in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

in 1975, and graduated in Ancient Literature from the

University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'') (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The f ...

. While working for the

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (literal English translation: 'Florence Musical May') is an annual Italian arts festival in Florence, including a notable opera festival, under the auspices of the Opera di Firenze. The festival occurs between late A ...

, Massini met theatre director

Luca Ronconi Luca Ronconi (8 March 1933 – 21 February 2015) was an Italian actor, theatre director, and opera director. Biography Ronconi was born in Sousse, Tunisia. After growing up in Tunisia, where his mother was a school teacher, Ronconi graduated ...

, who later took him as an assistant at the

Piccolo Teatro di Milano The Piccolo Teatro di Milano ('Little Theatre of the City of Milan') is a theatre in Milan, Italy. Founded in 1947, it is Italy's first permanent theatre, and a national ''teatro stabile'', or permanent repertory company, and is considered a thea ...

. Ronconi's words of encouragement were pivotal in prompting Massini to start writing his first

plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

. His play ''7 minuti'' was the basis for the 2016 film '' 7 Minutes'', directed by

Michele Placido Michele Placido (; born 19 May 1946) is an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. He began his career on stage, and first gained mainstream attention through a series of roles in films directed by the likes of Mario Monicelli and Marco Belloc ...

. He is the author of ''

The Lehman Trilogy ''The Lehman Trilogy'' is a three-act play by Italian novelist and playwright Stefano Massini. It follows the lives of three immigrant brothers from when they arrived in America and founded an investment firm through the collapse of Lehman Broth ...

'', which has played in both London and

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

to great critical acclaim, was nominated for five

Laurence Olivier Awards The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Aw ...

and won five

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cere ...

, including the

Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play (formally, an Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award given to the best new (non-musical) play on Broadway, as determined by Tony Award voters. There was no award in the Tonys' first year ...

. The play was also the basis for his novel ''Qualcosa sui Lehman'', winner of the 2018

Prix Médicis The Prix Médicis () is a French literary award given each year in November. It was founded in 1958 by and .

. His work has been staged in France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, Canada, Argentina, Algeria, Peru, Mexico, South Korea, Russia and Hungary.

Works

* ''7 minuti - Consiglio di fabbrica'' (2013) * ''Qualcosa sui Lehman'' (2016) - ''

'', trans. Richard Dixon (2019) * ''Dizionario inesistente'' (2018) - ''The Book of Nonexistent Words'', trans. Richard Dixon (2021) * ''Manhattan Project'' (2023)

References

Italian male dramatists and playwrights University of Florence alumni 1975 births Living people Prix Médicis essai winners Tony Award winners {{playwright-stub